Paris Climate Accord Moves Towards Ratification

Nissan LEAF and Renault ZOE in front of le Grand Palais in Paris for the climate meetings

On April 22, the United Nations met to sign what is now called the Paris Climate Accord. This is the agreement decided upon at the climate summit held late last year in the City of Light, and it aims to help reduce emissions and other harmful practices to help slow or stop the threat of global warming.

The signing ceremony took a whole day, but the United Nations used it as a stage to hammer home the importance of the Paris Climate Accord. While it has been adopted by the United Nations, many of the signatures on the document are only “votes of confidence,” still needing approval from each country’s governing bodies. 175 countries signed on the dotted line, but only 15 of those actually already received ratification at home.

For the Paris Climate Accord to succeed, at least 55 countries accounting for 55 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in the world have to ratify it. China, whose cars and factories make them the biggest greenhouse gas creator on the planet, has told the UN that they plan on ratifying the agreement by the G-20 meeting later this year. The US has also stated they will ratify it by the end of the year, but with Congress’s current track record of passing legislation, that deadline might be moved.

While the UN is anxious for the accord to go into effect, they believe it will take until 2020 for the necessary ratifications to be collected. There is no question that the ratification of this agreement will seriously affect the auto industry. While several things contribute greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, the vast number of cars on the road contributes a significant amount of emissions. Manufacturers need to start working harder (and faster) towards more EVs, like the Nissan LEAF, and more fuel-efficient large vehicles to make any future compliance as easy as possible.